From Issue #25, Fall 1995

From "Rocky Road Repair" to "Mint-a-Snow-Da" Ice Cream

by Carol Peiffer (from information supplied by Kemp's)

Be gone, bland Vanilla Ice Cream! Take a hike ho-hum chocolate! Instead Minnesotans demand ice cream flavors as wacky as Anoka Mocha, Mint-A-Snow-Da, Killebrew Revel, Chocolate Marshmallow Walleye, Taconite Tailings, Rudy and Arnie's Minneapolitan, Mini-Apple-Lust, and, er, Mosquito Larva Crunch?

Those are just a few of the over 5,000 entries submitted to Kemps Ice Cream of Minneapolis, which challenged ice cream lovers to create and name an original flavor that best captures the spirit of Minnesota. The winning flavor will be manufactured by Kemps and sold in Minnesota supermarkets this coming September. Entries were due by the end of May and the winner was announced on July 1st. The prize for the winning entry is a year's supply of Kemps Ice cream.

Not surprisingly, many flavor suggestions were inspired by the state's infamous weather with such concoctions as Arctic Front, Hunka Chunka Windchill, Snow Advisory, Road Salt and Sand, Zero Below Chocolate, and Minnesota Blizzard. Crisp Minnesota Fall was suggested (apple chunks and maple syrup, with a touch of smoky bacon flavor.)

Traffic delays must be as numerous in Minnesota as they are in Pennsylvania. Construction Delay Delight, Road Construction Cluster, Rocky Road Repair, and Pothole Heaven were other suggested flavor names.

The Mall of America inspired the flavors Marsh Mall-O' America, Mega Mall-ow, and MegaMALLted Crunch. Someone suggested the awful-sounding Hot Dish Ice Cream which would be made from a variety of leftovers. Kemps was hoping some citizens would be inspired to name flavors after famous Minnesotans like Walter Mondale, Loni Anderson, Prince, or Bob Dylan. Several flavors were suggested that would include gummi fish or gummi worms. Frustrated anglers suggested Fish Fry, Walleye's Muddy Waters, Fisherman's Surprise, Land of 10,000 Fish, and Gone Fishin' Ice Cream.

Given Kemps' advertising theme, "It's The Cows," it's no surprise that many entries were bovine: Cow-a-Buncha (vanilla ice cream with fudge chunks and dried banana chips), Heavenly Holstein (vanilla with licorice swirls), Black and White Cow (chunks of chocolate and caramel in vanilla), Black Cow (root beer flavored ice cream), and Albino Cow (white chocolate ice cream with white chocolate chips.)

Kemps Contest is linked to the introduction of five new Kemps "Special Edition" flavors. They are: Bear Tracks (caramel-filled chocolate cups, pecans, and caramel swirls), Amazon Crunch (cashew and Brazil nut crunch), Gold Mine (chocolate-covered cashews and cashew crunch), White Chocolate Mountain (French silk chocolate ice cream with swirls of white chocolate and white and dark chocolate chunks), and Chocolate Moose (brownie chunks, chocolate-covered almonds, and chocolate flakes).

Judges for the contest were local newspaper, magazine, radio, and TV personalities along with the Mayors of Rochester and St. Paul.

AND THE WINNING ENTRY WAS: Ladyslipper Royale. Now my first question was, what does that have to do with capturing the spirit of Minnesota? Annie Biebl, in customer service at Kemp's, explained to me on the phone that the Ladyslipper is Minnesota's state flower. The flavor, created by winner Linda Koerner of White Bear Lake, MN, is made up of creamy vanilla ice cream with burgundy cherries and dark chocolate chunks. Sounds yummy to me.

Nine additional flavors were chosen as runner-ups, their creators will receive a half gallon of ice cream each month for a year: Fruit of the Loon, Minnesota Rocky Road Construction, Cows in the Cream, Snow Drift, Hook Line and Sinker, Cabin Fever Crunch, North Shores' More, Maple Nut Goodie, and Mississippi Chocolate Chippi. Hey, wait! I thought this was Minnesota, not Mississippi. Annie explained that the Mississippi River runs through the state.

(Source: Press Release from Marigold Foods, manufacturer and marketer of Kemps Ice cream and Kemps Frozen Yogurt, submitted by Ruth Klossner, Lafayette, MN. Phone conversation, 7/18/95 with Annie Biebl, customer relations at Kemp's in Minneapolis.)